Gunnar Graarud

Provided by Daniele Godor.
Gunnar Graarud asks the SS-leader for permission to keep his party membership which he had been asked to give up because he wanted to
remain a Norwegian citizen. He writes:

"It's well known that, during my time at the Staatsoper in 1933, I got into a lot of trouble because I supported the Führer openly.
My contract there was not renewed because, as they said, I was a 'nazi'. [...] Already in 1933 I declared myself openly a national
socialist when asked about my attitude. Therefore, I hereby kindly ask you to keep me as a party member, as a sign of legitimation
of my life's work which, to my last breath, will be dedicated entirely to Germany and the Führer.
Heil Hitler! Gunnar Graarud

Gunnar Graarud - born June 1st, 1886, near Oslo, died Dec. 6th, 1960, Stuttgart. Debut in 1919
in Kaiserslautern,
afterwards in Mannheim, at the Berlin Volksoper, and in Hamburg. At the Bayreuth festival from 1927
on (Siegmund,
Siegfried, Tristan and Parsifal). 1928 to 1937 at the Staatsoper Vienna (though he performed very,
very rarely there
in the last few years, and his most prominent public "appearance" in those late years was his
enthusiastic appraisal of the Nazi takeover in 1938, widely published - along with similar
testimonies by other artists - in the Austrian newspapers). Sang as a guest at Covent Garden,
London, at the Opéra in Paris, and at the Scala di Milano, among other places. One of the truly
great heldentenors; unfortunately, he left extremely few recordings.